Saturday at Paintball Expo, Pomona, CA

PCP's tank (notice the kids around it).

The opening day of the Pomona Expo is over, but it brought several surprises. There were several venders there with new product for the paintball and airsoft communities to see, but the "vendor" that stood out head and shoulders above all others wasn't selling a thing. They gave us all a fun free reality check, honked their horns and launched balloons all day long.

PCP's "Pogo" with a CCM pump

Paintball has become serious business to many, so to see a group of people embrace (or lampoon) paintball the way the Psycho Clown Posse (PCP) does, it really makes you think about the way people represent the sport of paintball. So many people in paintball have forgotten that tournament paintball is not the only thing that paintball has to offer. New players, rec ballers and scenario players are a huge part of our sport and this group of people, clowns or whatever you want to call them have embraced all areas of paintball. They roll up in RV convoys and set up "Clown town" where kids can play games, win prizes and just have fun (all at PCP expense) and they even manage to play and have fun too. So if we walk away from this with anything, maybe it is that there are still groups out there that just want to see our great sport of paintball grow, no matter what part of paintball you are into. You can find out more about the Psycho Clown Posse by following the old school gag horns or from their web site: www.psychoclownposse.com.

Silver Star T (modeled by "The Face")

Another interesting company that was at the event was Silver Star Paintball Apparel. They have a wide variety of shirts, hoodies and hats. One of their best selling shirts has the statue of liberty on it, however my favorite was the newest shirt that was released at this event. It is only made in shirts so hopefully they will release it in hoodies and beanies. This is another one of our product picks to look out for. They have a great product line as well as a high standard. Check them out at: www.silverstarpaintball.com

Devin Duncan and Nicky Cuba of XSV showed off their new line of goods.

Devin Duncan and Nicky Cuba

XSV is still sponsored by Draxxus, V-Force, Planet Eclipse, Pev’s and XS Energy drink, but when they did the math with other sponsor offers, they figured they could do better if they made some of their own gear. Look for more info on the new line once the “real” stuff comes in, but what we saw was sweet. Clean effective hardware and clothes that brings back some subtle camo patterns, but are stylish enough for tournament use. Visit XSV Paintball

Mike "Taz" and Dave

We also got a great lesson in night scenario gaming from Mark “Taz” Kurtti. He showed us the latest and greatest in night vision gear from Devil Mountain Sports and briefed us on what it was like to play a TAW Paintball scenario game. He even suited Burt up with a mask that had a night vision setup (kinda hard to get on the first time with all the extra straps, but once on, it was surprisingly light and manageable for having a night vision scope hanging off your goggles).

The last but not least company (for today) that we are going to give a shout out to is SM1. For those of you who don’t know about this company, you should. They put out one of the most competitive barrels on the market. SM1 has made barrels for many companies and like so many others decided to try to make their own product, but unlike many other companies they have succeeded with a good, maybe even great, product.

SM1 booth

Their barrels have given the best barrels on the market a run for their money. They are also affordable and deadly accurate. Their new three piece is awesome. It is one of the lightest barrels we have ever seen and it is ported out for noise and kick reduction. New products they showed us included an awesome feed neck and a new wet weather barrel that will keep out the rain (it has a threaded sleeve that covers the barrel ports). We are looking forward to reviewing both of these products in the next few weeks. Visit their web site: SM1PaintballBarrel.com.

Yes, we did mention a sweet body from Special Ops Paintball, but you are gonna need wait until tomorrow for the goods…